Levels
XP and levelling At certain events and stages of the adventure your character wil lbe awarded experience points (XP). XP are normally given for: - completing a combat encounter (and surviving) - killing an oponent - completing a quest - completing a distinct part of the adventure - creative solutions or great ideas, either during or outside combat How much experience you'll get depends on the difficulty of encounters or situations, difference in levels, number of people in the party etc. When you have enough XP to move into the next level, you have some stuff to recalculate, because you'll be getting upgrades to stats, skills, etc. However, if your new level involves more spells or spell slots, you can't just start using them immediately - you need at least a night's rest to meditate, pray, study etc., depending on what type of caster you are. What happens when you level up: '- You gain a ''character level.' Depending on the level, this may give you ability increases, may gain you a new feat, and you get new skill points to distribute. (For the number of new skill points, see your class description.) With character advancement: - You get '''ONE '''extra ability (base stat) point at level 4 and every 4 levels afterwards. Your choice on which stat to add it. If you add it in Constitution and as a result your CON increases, make sure to adjust your hit points as well. If you add it in Intelligence and your INT changes, re-calculate how many skill points you get, based on the class you're advancing. Check the bonus spells table as well, if applicable. - You get '''ONE' new feat at level 3, and every three character levels afterwards. '- You gain a ''class level'. (If you only play a single class, there's no difference between character and class level. For multiclassing characters, you decide which of your classes to advance.) With each class advancement: - Your 'base attack bonus' and 'base save bonus''' get updated (check relevant tables. If you're multiclass, add your bonuses from each class) - You gain a new Hit Die. (that is, roll the associated HD for the class you're advancing, and add the result to your current hit points. - You get new skill points to distribute (check your class description for exact number of points). The class you're advancing determines which are class and cross-class skills for these skill points. - Your spell allotments get updated (check relevant tables) - At certain class levels, some class abilities are unlocked (check your class) What's the deal with multiclassing You may add a second (or even third, fourth...) class to your character as long as you meet the alignment requirements and you're not under some kind of prohibition (like a holy oath, or something). However, some rules: - you can only add a class when levelling up (that is, when you have an opening for a new class level). - when you add a second class, it's like starting a character from lvl 1, except you don't get all the goodies: no automatic max hit points (you roll a Hit Die and take the result), no 4x skill points, and no new starting gear/gold. - If you advance one class more than a level higher than another, there may be an XP penalty (for each class that is 2 or more levels behind your highest-level class, you pay with -20% XP). When determining whether you should take an XP penalty for multiclassing, your racial Favored class is excluded from the consideration (it's not counted, like you don't have it). So if you only have two classes, and one of them is your race's Favored class, you'll take no penalty. If you have two non-favored classes, but they are no more than one level apart, you'll also take no penalty. - You gain all the benefits of all the classes you have (well, from the levels you have in those classes). Check all relevant tables, especially if one of your classes is a caster. - Special case: If you started out as Paladin and at some point you took a second class, you retain your Paladin abilities granted by the Paladin level you have, but can never add more Paladin levels to your character: You have become distracted by other goals, and can no longer claim to be relentlessly pursuing virtue. (That's not the same as becoming an ex-paladin which is when you change alignment - see the class description) Dying and XP loss You die, you're dead - unless someone brings you back. In case you die and are resurrected, you lose a level and you start your new life with XP halfway to the level you were when you died. (If you died at lvl 5, you come back as lvl 4, with XP half of what is needed to bring a character from 4 to 5). If you die at lvl 1, you have no lower level to go to, so you permanently lose 2 points Constitution instead.